A Monthly Summary sheet helps students step back and see how their finances add up over time. This page pulls together the key totals from their Categories and Transactions sheets so they can reflect on their overall income, spending, savings, and progress toward goals.
Start by adding a new tab to the spreadsheet and name it “Summary” or “Monthly Overview.” In this sheet, students will collect data for total income, total expenses, total savings, and net difference (what’s left over at the end of the month). You can also include charts and reflections here to reinforce understanding.
Begin with a row for the month and a space to write or select which month the data reflects. If they use a date column in their Transactions sheet, you can guide them to use the MONTH() and YEAR() functions or filters to limit their data to just one month. For a simpler version, students can duplicate the spreadsheet each month and treat each file as its own monthly snapshot.
In the next rows, students should include four labeled items:
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Total Income
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Total Expenses
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Total Savings
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Net Difference
They can use SUMIF() formulas again, this time looking at the Type column in the Transactions sheet.
To calculate Total Income, they can enter:
=SUMIF(Transactions!E:E, “Income”, Transactions!C:C)
To calculate Total Expenses:
=SUMIF(Transactions!E:E, “Expense”, Transactions!C:C)
This formula will return a negative number since expenses are recorded as negatives. For display purposes, they might use ABS() (absolute value) to show it as a positive number.
If they have a Savings category, they can calculate savings separately using:
=SUMIF(Transactions!D:D, “Savings”, Transactions!C:C)
To calculate Net Difference (how much they saved or overspent), subtract expenses from income:
=SUM(Transactions!C:C)
This sums all transactions. If the number is positive, they ended the month with money left over. If it’s negative, they spent more than they earned.
Encourage students to add simple visualizations. A bar chart comparing income and expenses can help them understand where their money goes. A pie chart showing category percentages for expenses can provide a clear snapshot of spending habits.
This Summary sheet also gives students a perfect space for written reflection. They can add questions like:
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Did I stay within my budget this month?
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What spending surprised me?
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What should I change next month?
Having students return to this summary regularly builds reflection into their budgeting routine. It helps shift the mindset from tracking money reactively to planning ahead and adjusting intentionally.
